1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, a printing system, a method of processing data with a printing apparatus, a method of processing data in a printing system, a printing operation controller, a method of controlling a printing operation, and storage medium on which a computer-readable program is stored, for controlling the operation of transferring printing information by communicating via a predetermined communication medium with a plurality of printing apparatus each having a paper feeding slot to which a paper name may be assigned.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIGS. 23-26 illustrate printing systems to which the printing operation controller of the above-described type may be applied. In these printing systems, a data processing apparatus (host computer) is adapted to communicate with a printing apparatus (printer) via a predetermined communication medium.
In these figures, a host computer H includes a controller which executes various application programs in response to a command input via an input device (such as a keyboard) not shown in the figures, and a memory resource for storing various application programs and a system program. The host computer H is adapted to communicate with a printer P1 or other printers PA-PC via a predetermined communication medium. Each printer includes an upper cassette C1 and a lower cassette C2.
In some printing systems having a system configuration such as that shown in FIG. 23, when data produced and managed by the host computer H is output to the printer P1 having a plurality of paper feeding slots, if a desired paper size is designated via the printing operation control screen displayed on the display device of the host computer H, then the printer P1 automatically selects a paper feeding slot in which paper with the designated size is set.
In such a printing system, when A4-size paper and B4-size paper are set in an upper cassette C1 and lower cassette C2, respectively, of the printer shown in FIG. 23, if printing data and control data designating A4 as the paper size are transmitted to the printer from the host computer, then paper is automatically fed from the upper cassette C1, and thus designation of a physical paper feeding slot is not required. On the other hand, if B4 is designated, paper is automatically fed from the lower cassette C2.
However, in the case where paper with the same size but with a different color is set in the upper cassette C1 and the lower cassette C2 of the printer P1 as shown in FIG. 24 (white A4-size paper is set in the upper cassette C1 and red A4-size paper is set in the lower cassette), it is uncertain whether white or red paper is selected when A4 is designated as the paper size. That is, in this printing system, it is impossible to designate paper with a desired color.
Therefore, a user has to designate a physical paper feeding mechanism. More specifically, the user has to designate, for example, A4-size paper in the upper cassette. To select a desired type of paper, the user has to have knowledge about which type of paper is set in which physical paper feeding slot of the printer and the user has to designate a desired physical paper feeding slot in accordance with the above knowledge. This is inconvenient for the user.
FIG. 25 illustrates a printing system having the capability of designating a desired type of paper by a paper name, which has been proposed to avoid the above problem. In this printing system, a paper name is assigned as an attribute to each paper feeding slot of the printer P1 so that if the host computer H designates a particular paper name of those assigned to the printer P1, then paper is fed from the paper feeding slot corresponding to the designated paper name. Hereinafter this capability is referred to as a paper name designation capability.
In the specific example shown in FIG. 25, xe2x80x9cEstimatexe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cAccountxe2x80x9d are assigned as logical paper names to the upper cassette C1 and the lower cassette C2, respectively. When a printing operation is performed, the host computer H transmits control data designating a logical paper name (for example, xe2x80x9cEstimatexe2x80x9d) together with printing data to the printer, without designating a physical paper feeding slot.
In the printer P1, printing is performed on paper fed from the paper feeding slot corresponding to the designated paper name xe2x80x9cEstimatexe2x80x9d. This paper name designation capability allows the user to easily designate a desired type of paper without having to know various physical properties (such as a paper size, color, relationship between the paper type and the paper feeding slot). This is very convenient for the user.
In conventional printers with a plurality paper feeding slots, selection of a paper feeding slot used in a printing operation is made either in such a manner that a user designates a particular paper feeding slot (for example, upper cassette) via a host computer or in such a manner that the printer determines a proper paper size and employs a paper feeding slot in which paper with the selected size is set.
In some cases, a particular type of paper called a preprinted sheet on which a particular form has been printed is set in a paper feeding slot. In this case, desired paper cannot be selected by designating only the paper size. The user has to designate a physical paper feeding slot in which desired paper is set and thus the user has to know which paper is set in which paper feeding slot.
Some printers have the capability of selecting optimum printing conditions such as the paper feeding speed and the fixing mode depending on the type of paper employed (for example, thick paper, transparency sheet, etc.) thereby forming a visible image with improved quality. However, in this case, the user himself/herself has to determine the type of paper and notify the printer of the type of paper. As described above, the selection of paper feeding slots in practical printing applications is becoming more complex.
More specifically, in a networked system including a plurality of printers PA-PC each having the paper name designation capability as shown in FIG. 26, a user has to know the relationship between the physical printer names and the logical paper names.
That is, to use the paper name designation capability in a networked system, the user is required to have knowledge about physical printer names and designate a desired physical printer name on the basis of the knowledge. This makes the system inconvenient.
For example, in the printing system shown in FIG. 26, when the host computer H prints an estimate, the host computer H has to know that the paper name xe2x80x9cEstimatexe2x80x9d is assigned to a xe2x80x9cprinter Bxe2x80x9d of a plurality of printers on the network. The user designates the xe2x80x9cprinter Bxe2x80x9d as the output destination and further designates the xe2x80x9cestimatexe2x80x9d as the paper name via the host computer H. Then the user issues a print start command. In such a networked printing system including a plurality of printers PA-PC, the advantages of the paper name designation capability are not well exploited. On the contrary, even a reduction in utility can occur.
In view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a printing apparatus, a printing system, a method of processing data with a printing apparatus, a method of processing data in a printing system, a printing operation control apparatus, a method of controlling a printing operation, and a storage medium on which a computer-readable program is stored, whereby a networked printing environment having the paper name designation capability is realized in which paper names assigned to respective printers on the network are acquired and displayed in the form of a list on a printing operation control screen so that if a user designates a particular paper name then printing information is sent to a printer assigned the designated paper name thus making it possible to build a networked printing system having the paper name designation capability in which it is possible to perform an optimum printing operation on desired paper using a printer in which the desired paper is available simply by designating a desired paper name in a similar manner to that employed in the conventional paper name designation technique, without having to know which paper name is assigned to which printer on the network.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing apparatus capable of communicating with a data processing apparatus via a predetermined communication medium, the printing apparatus comprising: a plurality of paper feeding mechanisms for feeding a recording medium; definition means for defining paper feeding slot data for each paper feeding slot of each paper feeding mechanism; storage means for storing the paper feeding slot data defined by the definition means for each paper feeding slot; acquisition means for acquiring the paper feeding slot data associated with each paper feeding slot stored in the storage means; and notification means for sending the paper feeding slot data acquired by the acquisition means to the data processing apparatus.
Preferably, the notification means sends the paper feeding slot data stored in the storage means to the data processing apparatus, in response to an acquisition request from the data processing apparatus.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data processing apparatus capable of communicating with a printing apparatus via a predetermined communication medium, the data processing apparatus comprising: issuing means for issuing an acquisition request to the printing apparatus to acquire the paper feeding slot data defined for the paper feeding mechanism of the printing apparatus; and control means for analyzing the paper feeding slot data transferred from the printing apparatus in response to the request for acquisition of the paper feeding slot data issued by the issuing means, and displaying paper resource information on a display device.
Preferably, the paper resource information includes paper name data and paper attribute data defined for each paper feeding slot.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing system including a data processing apparatus and a printing apparatus capable of communicating with each other via a predetermined communication medium, the printing apparatus comprising: a plurality of paper feeding mechanisms for feeding a recording medium; definition means for defining paper feeding slot data for each paper feeding slot of each paper feeding mechanism; storage means for storing the paper feeding slot data defined by the definition means for each paper feeding slot; acquisition means for acquiring the paper feeding slot data associated with each paper feeding slot stored in the storage means; and notification means for sending each paper feeding slot data acquired by the acquisition means to the data processing apparatus in response to the acquisition request issued by the data processing apparatus, the data processing apparatus comprising: issuing means for issuing an acquisition request to the printing apparatus to acquire the paper feeding slot data defined for the paper feeding mechanism of the printing apparatus; and control means for analyzing the paper feeding slot data transferred from the printing apparatus in response to the request for acquisition of the paper feeding slot data issued by the issuing means, and displaying paper resource information on a display device.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing system including a data processing apparatus, a printing apparatus, and a printer server, the data processing apparatus being capable of communicating with the printing apparatus via the printer server, the printing apparatus comprising: a plurality of paper feeding mechanisms for feeding a recording medium; definition means for defining paper feeding slot data for each paper feeding slot of each paper feeding mechanism; storage means for storing the paper feeding slot data defined by the definition means for each paper feeding slot; acquisition means for acquiring the paper feeding slot data associated with each paper feeding slot stored in the storage means; and notification means for sending the paper feeding slot data acquired by the acquisition means to the printer server in response to the acquisition request issued by the printer server, the printer server comprising: storage means for storing the paper feeding slot data received from the printing apparatus; judgment means for judging whether there is an updating request to update the paper feeding slot data stored in the storage means, when the request for acquisition of the paper feeding slot data is issued by the data processing apparatus; and returning means for returning the updated paper feeding slot data to the data processing apparatus, depending on the result of judgment made by the judgment means in terms of whether there is an updating request, the data processing apparatus comprising: issuing means for issuing an acquisition request to the printer server to acquire the paper feeding slot data defined for the paper feeding mechanism of the printing apparatus; and control means for analyzing the paper feeding slot data transferred from the printer server in response to the request for acquisition of the paper feeding slot data issued by the issuing means, and displaying paper resource information on a display device.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing system including a data processing apparatus and a plurality of printing apparatus, the data processing apparatus being capable of communicating with the plurality of printing apparatus via a predetermined communication medium, each printing apparatus comprising: a plurality of paper feeding mechanisms for feeding a recording medium; definition means for defining paper feeding slot data for each paper feeding slot of each paper feeding mechanism; storage means for storing the paper feeding slot data defined by the definition means for each paper feeding slot; acquisition means for acquiring the paper feeding slot data associated with each paper feeding slot stored in the storage means; and notification means for sending each paper feeding slot data acquired by the acquisition means to the data processing apparatus in response to the acquisition request issued by the data processing apparatus, the data processing apparatus comprising: issuing means for issuing an acquisition request to the printing apparatus to acquire the paper feeding slot data defined for the paper feeding mechanism of each printing apparatus; and control means for analyzing the paper feeding slot data transferred from each printing apparatus in response to the request for acquisition of the paper feeding slot data issued by the issuing means, and displaying paper resource information on a display device.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing system including a data processing apparatus, a plurality of printing apparatus, and a printer server, the data processing apparatus being capable of communicating via the printer server with the plurality of printing apparatus via a predetermined communication medium, each printing apparatus comprising: a plurality of paper feeding mechanisms for feeding a recording medium; definition means for defining paper feeding slot data for each paper feeding slot of each paper feeding mechanism; storage means for storing the paper feeding slot data defined by the definition means for each paper feeding slot; acquisition means for acquiring the paper feeding slot data associated with each paper feeding slot stored in the storage means; and notification means for sending the paper feeding slot data acquired by the acquisition means to the printer server in response to the acquisition request issued by the printer server, the printer server comprising: storage means for storing the paper feeding slot data received from each printing apparatus judgment means for judging whether there is an updating request to update the paper feeding slot data stored in the storage means, when the request for acquisition of the paper feeding slot data is issued by the data processing apparatus; and returning means for returning the updated paper feeding slot data to the data processing apparatus, depending on the result of judgment made by the judgment means in terms of whether there is an updating request, the data processing apparatus comprising: issuing means for issuing an acquisition request to the printer server to acquire the paper feeding slot data defined for the paper feeding mechanism of each printing apparatus; and control means for analyzing the paper feeding slot data transferred from the printer server in response to the request for acquisition of the paper feeding slot data issued by the issuing means, and displaying paper resource information on a display device.
Preferably, the printer server comprises updating means for, when the judgment means judges that there is an updating request, acquiring the newest paper feeding slot data from each printing apparatus and updating the paper feeding slot data stored in the storage means.
Furthermore, the paper resource information includes paper name data and paper attribute data defined for each paper feeding slot.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of processing data in a printing apparatus capable of communicating with a data processing apparatus via a predetermined communication medium, the method comprising: a definition step in which paper feeding slot data is defined for each paper feeding slot of a plurality of paper feeding mechanisms for feeding a recording medium; a storage step in which the paper feeding slot data defined in the definition step for each paper feeding slot is stored into a memory; an acquisition step in which the paper feeding slot data of each paper feeding slot stored in the storage step is acquired; and a notification step in which the paper feeding slot data acquired in the acquisition step is sent to the data processing apparatus.
Preferably, in the notification step, the paper feeding slot data stored in the storage step is sent to the data processing apparatus in response to an acquisition request from the data processing apparatus.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of processing data in a data processing apparatus capable of communicating with a printing apparatus via a predetermined communication medium, the method comprising: an issuing step in which an acquisition request is issued to the printing apparatus to acquire the paper feeding slot data defined for the paper feeding mechanism of the printing apparatus; and a display step in which an analysis is made on the paper feeding slot data transferred from the printing apparatus in response to the request of acquisition of the paper feeding slot data issued in the issuing step, and paper resource information is displayed on a display device.
Preferably, the paper resource information includes paper name data and paper attribute data defined for each paper feeding slot.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of processing data in a printing system including a data processing apparatus and a printing apparatus capable of communicating with each other via a predetermined communication medium, the method comprising: a definition step in which paper feeding slot data is defined for each paper feeding slot of a plurality of paper feeding mechanisms for feeding a recording medium; a storage step in which the paper feeding slot data defined in the definition step for each paper feeding slot is stored into a memory; an issuing step in which an acquisition request is issued to the printing apparatus to acquire the paper feeding slot data defined for the paper feeding mechanism of the printing apparatus; an acquisition step in which the paper feeding slot data of each paper feeding slot stored into the memory in the storage step is acquired; a notification step in which the paper feeding slot data acquired in the acquisition step is sent to the data processing apparatus, in response to the acquisition request issued in the issuing step; and a displaying step in which an analysis is made on the paper feeding slot data supplied in the notification step and paper resource information is displayed on a display device.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of processing data in a printing system including a data processing apparatus, a printing apparatus, and a printer server, the data processing apparatus being capable of communicating via the printer server with the printing apparatus via a predetermined communication medium, the method comprising: a definition step in which paper feeding slot data is defined for each paper feeding slot of a plurality of paper feeding mechanisms for feeding a recording medium; a storage step in which the paper feeding slot data defined in the definition step for each paper feeding slot is stored into a memory; an acquisition step in which the paper feeding slot data of each paper feeding slot stored into the memory in the storage step is acquired; a notification step in which the paper feeding slot data acquired in the acquisition step is sent to the data processing apparatus in response to the acquisition request issued via the printer server; a storage step in which the paper feeding slot data returned from the printing apparatus is stored into a memory; an issuing step in which an acquisition request is issued to the printer server to acquire the paper feeding slot data defined for the paper feeding mechanism of the printing apparatus; a judgment step in which when the request for acquisition of the paper feeding slot data is issued in the issuing step, a judgment is made as to whether there is an updating request to update the paper feeding slot data stored in the memory in the storage step; a returning step in which the newest paper feeding slot data is returned to the data processing apparatus via the printer server, depending on the result of the judgment made in the judgment step as to whether there is an updating request; and a display step in which paper feeding slot data returned in the returning step is analyzed and paper resource information is displayed on a display device provided in the data processing apparatus.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of processing data in a printing system including a data processing apparatus and a plurality of printing apparatus, the data processing apparatus being capable of communicating with the plurality of printing apparatus via a predetermined communication medium, the method comprising: a definition step in which paper feeding slot data is defined for each paper feeding slot of a plurality of paper feeding mechanisms for feeding a recording medium; a storage step in which the paper feeding slot data defined in the definition step for each paper feeding slot is stored into a memory; an acquisition step in which the paper feeding slot data of each paper feeding slot stored into the memory in the storage step is acquired; an issuing step in which an acquisition request is issued to each printing apparatus to acquire the paper feeding slot data defined for the paper feeding mechanism of each printing apparatus; a notification step in which the paper feeding slot data of each paper feeding slot acquired in the acquisition step is sent to the data processing apparatus in response to the acquisition request issued in the issuing step; and a display step in which the paper feeding slot data supplied in the notification step is analyzed and paper resource information is displayed on a display device of the data processing apparatus.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of processing data in a printing system including a data processing apparatus, a plurality of printing apparatus, and a printer server, the data processing apparatus being capable of communicating via the printer server with the plurality of printing apparatus via a predetermined communication medium, the method comprising: a definition step in which paper feeding slot data is defined for each paper feeding slot of a plurality of paper feeding mechanisms for feeding a recording medium; a storage step in which the paper feeding slot data defined in the definition step for each paper feeding slot is stored into a memory; an acquisition step in which the paper feeding slot data of each paper feeding slot stored into the memory in the storage step is acquired; a notification step in which the paper feeding slot data acquired in the acquisition step is sent to the data processing apparatus in response to the acquisition request issued via the printer server; a storage step in which the paper feeding slot data returned from each printing apparatus is stored into a memory; an issuing step in which an acquisition request is issued to the printer server to acquire the paper feeding slot data defined for the paper feeding mechanism of each printing apparatus; a judgment step in which when the request for acquisition of the paper feeding slot data is issued in the issuing step, a judgment is made as to whether there is an updating request to update the paper feeding slot data stored in the memory in the storage step; a returning step in which the newest paper feeding slot data is returned to the data processing apparatus via the printer server, depending on the result of the judgment made in the judgment step as to whether there is an updating request; and a display step in which paper feeding slot data returned in the returning step is analyzed and paper resource information is displayed on a display device provided in the data processing apparatus.
Preferably, the printer server comprises updating means for, when the judgment means judges that there is an updating request, acquiring the newest paper feeding slot data from each printing apparatus and updating the paper feeding slot data stored in the storage means.
Furthermore, the paper resource information includes paper name data and paper attribute data defined for each paper feeding slot.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage medium on which a program readable by a computer is stored, the computer being responsible for controlling a printing apparatus capable of communicating with a data processing apparatus via a predetermined communication medium, the program comprising: a definition step in which paper feeding slot data is defined for each paper feeding slot of a plurality of paper feeding mechanisms for feeding a recording medium; a storage step in which the paper feeding slot data defined in the definition step for each paper feeding slot is stored into a memory; an acquisition step in which the paper feeding slot data of each paper feeding slot stored in the storage step is acquired; and a notification step in which the paper feeding slot data acquired in the acquisition step is sent to the data processing apparatus.
In the notification step, the paper feeding slot data stored in the storage step is sent to the data processing apparatus in response to an acquisition request from the data processing apparatus.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage medium on which a program readable by a computer is stored, the computer being responsible for controlling a data processing apparatus capable of communicating with a printing apparatus via a predetermined communication medium, the program comprising: an issuing step in which an acquisition request is issued to the printing apparatus to acquire the paper feeding slot data defined for the paper feeding mechanism of the printing apparatus; and a display step in which an analysis is made on the paper feeding slot data transferred from the printing apparatus in response to the request of acquisition of the paper feeding slot data issued in the issuing step, and paper resource information is displayed on a display device.
Preferably, the paper resource information includes paper name data and paper attribute data defined for each paper feeding slot.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage medium on which a program readable by a computer is stored, the computer being responsible for controlling a printing system including a data processing apparatus and a printing apparatus capable of communicating with each other via a predetermined communication medium, the program comprising: a definition step in which paper feeding slot data is defined for each paper feeding slot of a plurality of paper feeding mechanisms for feeding recording medium; a storage step in which the paper feeding slot data defined in the definition step for each paper feeding slot is stored into a memory; an issuing step in which an acquisition request is issued to the printing apparatus to acquire the paper feeding slot data defined for the paper feeding mechanism of the printing apparatus; an acquisition step in which the paper feeding slot data of each paper feeding slot stored into the memory in the storage step is acquired; a notification step in which the paper feeding slot data acquired in the acquisition step is sent to the data processing apparatus, in response to the acquisition request issued in the issuing step; and a displaying step in which an analysis is made on the paper feeding slot data supplied in the notification step and paper resource information is displayed on a display device.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage medium on which a program readable by a computer is stored, the computer being responsible for controlling a printing system including a data processing apparatus, a printing apparatus, and a printer server, the data processing apparatus being capable of communicating via the printer server with the printing apparatus via a predetermined communication medium, the program comprising: a definition step in which paper feeding slot data is defined for each paper feeding slot of a plurality of paper feeding mechanisms for feeding a recording medium; a storage step in which the paper feeding slot data defined in the definition step for each paper feeding slot is stored into a memory; an acquisition step in which the paper feeding slot data of each paper feeding slot stored into the memory in the storage step is acquired; a notification step in which the paper feeding slot data acquired in the acquisition step is sent to the data processing apparatus in response to the acquisition request issued via the printer server; a storage step in which the paper feeding slot data returned from the printing apparatus is stored into a memory; an issuing step in which an acquisition request is issued to the printer server to acquire the paper feeding slot data defined for the paper feeding mechanism of the printing apparatus; a judgment step in which when the request for acquisition of the paper feeding slot data is issued in the issuing step, a judgment is made as to whether there is an updating request to update the paper feeding slot data stored in the memory in the storage step; a returning step in which the newest paper feeding slot data is returned to the data processing apparatus via the printer server, depending on the result of the judgment made in the judgment step as to whether there is an updating request; and a display step in which paper feeding slot data returned in the returning step is analyzed and paper resource information is displayed on a display device provided in the data processing apparatus.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage medium on which a program readable by a computer is stored, the computer being responsible for controlling a printing system including a data processing apparatus and a plurality of printing apparatus, the data processing apparatus being capable of communicating with the plurality of printing apparatus via a predetermined communication medium, the program comprising: a definition step in which paper feeding slot data is defined for each paper feeding slot of a plurality of paper feeding mechanisms for feeding a recording medium; a storage step in which the paper feeding slot data defined in the definition step for each paper feeding slot is stored into a memory; an acquisition step in which the paper feeding slot data of each paper feeding slot stored into the memory in the storage step is acquired; an issuing step in which an acquisition request is issued to each printing apparatus to acquire the paper feeding slot data defined for the paper feeding mechanism of each printing apparatus; a notification step in which the paper feeding slot data of each paper feeding slot acquired in the acquisition step is sent to the data processing apparatus in response to the acquisition request issued in the issuing step; and a display step in which the paper feeding slot data supplied in the notification step is analyzed and paper resource information is displayed on a display device of the data processing apparatus.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage medium on which a program readable by a computer is stored, the computer being responsible for controlling a printing system including a data processing apparatus, a plurality of printing apparatus, and a printer server, the data processing apparatus being capable of communicating via the printer server with the plurality of printing apparatus via a predetermined communication medium, the program comprising: a definition step in which paper feeding slot data is defined for each paper feeding slot of a plurality of paper feeding mechanisms for feeding a recording medium; a storage step in which the paper feeding slot data defined in the definition step for each paper feeding slot is stored into a memory; an acquisition step in which the paper feeding slot data of each paper feeding slot stored into the memory in the storage step is acquired; a notification step in which the paper feeding slot data acquired in the acquisition step is sent to the data processing apparatus in response to the acquisition request issued via the printer server; a storage step in which the paper feeding slot data returned from each printing apparatus is stored into a memory; an issuing step in which an acquisition request is issued to the printer server to acquire the paper feeding slot data defined for the paper feeding mechanism of each printing apparatus; a judgment step in which when the request for acquisition of the paper feeding slot data is issued in the issuing step, a judgment is made as to whether there is an updating request to update the paper feeding slot data stored in the memory in the storage step; a returning step in which the newest paper feeding slot data is returned to the data processing apparatus via the printer server, depending on the result of the judgment made in the judgment step as to whether there is an updating request; and a display step in which paper feeding slot data returned in the returning step is analyzed and paper resource information is displayed on a display device provided in the data processing apparatus.
Preferably, the printer server comprises updating means for, when the judgment means judges that there is an updating request, acquiring the newest paper feeding slot data from each printing apparatus and updating the paper feeding slot data stored in the storage means.
Furthermore, the paper resource information includes paper name data and paper attribute data defined for each paper feeding slot.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing operation control apparatus for controlling the operation of transferring printing information by communicating via a predetermined communication medium with a plurality of printing apparatus each having a paper feeding slot to which a paper name may be assigned, the printing operation control apparatus comprising: first display control means for displaying, on a display device, a printing operation control screen including a paper name selection box used to select a paper name; acquisition means for examining and acquiring information about available resources of the printing apparatus, in response to a print request from an application program; first generation means for generating a paper name information table by analyzing the information of resources of each printing apparatus acquired by the acquisition means; second generation means for generating a paper name list to be displayed on the printing operation control screen in accordance with the paper name information table generated by the first generation means; second display control means for displaying, on the printing operation control screen, a list of selectable paper names according to the paper name list generated by the second generation means, in response to indication of the paper name selection box displayed on the printing operation control screen; and setting means for retrieving, from the paper name information table, a printing apparatus assigned the desired paper name selected from the list of selectable paper names and setting the retrieved printing apparatus as the designation to which the printing information is output.
Preferably, the second display control means displays, on the printing operation control screen, the paper name located at the top of the paper name list as a current paper name.
Preferably, the printing operation control apparatus further comprises: designation means for designating a selection rule of selecting a printing apparatus from a plurality of printing apparatus assigned the same paper name in a competitive fashion; judgment means for judging whether a paper name is a competitive paper name assigned to a plurality of printing apparatus in a competitive fashion; and determination means that, when the judgment means judges that the selected paper name is a competitive paper name, determines a printing apparatus which should be set by the setting means as the destination to which the printing information is output, in accordance with the selection rule designated by the designation means.
Preferably, the plurality of printing apparatus include a printing apparatus connected in an one-to-one fashion to a particular data processing apparatus.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing operation controlling method of controlling the operation of transferring printing information by communicating via a predetermined communication medium with a plurality of printing apparatus each having a paper feeding slot to which a paper name may be assigned, the method comprising: a first displaying step in which a printing operation control screen is displayed on a display device, the printing operation control screen including a paper name selection box used to select a paper name; an acquisition step in which in response to a print request from an application program, information about available resources of the printing apparatus is examined and acquired; a first generation step in which a paper name information table is generated by analyzing the acquired information about resources of each printing apparatus; a second generation step in which a paper name list to be displayed on the printing operation control screen is generated in accordance with the generated paper name information table; a second display step in which a list of selectable paper names generated according to the paper name list is displayed on the printing operation control screen in response to indication of the paper name selection box displayed on the printing operation control screen; and a setting step in which a printing apparatus assigned the desired paper name selected from the list of selectable paper names is retrieved from the paper name information table, and the retrieved printing apparatus is set as the designation to which the printing information is output.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage medium on which a program readable by a computer is stored, the computer being responsible for controlling the operation of transferring printing information by communicating via a predetermined communication medium with a plurality of printing apparatus each having a paper feeding slot to which a paper name may be assigned, the program comprising: a first displaying step in which a printing operation control screen is displayed on a display device, the printing operation control screen including a paper name selection box used to select a paper name; an acquisition step in which in response to a print request from an application program, information about available resources of the printing apparatus is examined and acquired; a first generation step in which a paper name information table is generated by analyzing the acquired information about resources of each printing apparatus; a second generation step in which a paper name list to be displayed on the printing operation control screen is generated in accordance with the generated paper name information table; a second display step in which a list of selectable paper names generated according to the paper name list is displayed on the printing operation control screen in response to indication of the paper name selection box displayed on the printing operation control screen; and a setting step in which a printing apparatus assigned the desired paper name selected from the list of selectable paper names is retrieved from the paper name information table, and the retrieved printing apparatus is set as the designation to which the printing information is output.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing operation controlling method of controlling the operation of transferring printing information by communicating via a predetermined communication medium with a plurality of printing apparatus each having a paper feeding slot to which a paper name may be assigned, the method comprising: a judgment step in which, in response to a print request from an application program, a judgment is made as to whether there is an available printing apparatus connected to the predetermined communication medium; a first storage step in which the network information about the available printing apparatus obtained in the judgment step is stored in a memory; a setting step in which the network information stored in the memory is analyzed and the number of printing apparatus with the paper name designation capability to be examined is set; an examination step in which an examination is made on as many printing apparatus as the number set in the setting step as to whether each the printing apparatus has the capability of selecting a paper feeding slot in accordance with a paper name; and a second storage step in which if the examination step concludes that the printing apparatus has the capability of selecting a paper feeding slot in accordance with a paper name, the paper name assigned to each paper feeding slot is acquired and stored in the memory.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage medium on which a program readable by a computer is stored, the computer being responsible for controlling the operation of transferring printing information by communicating via a predetermined communication medium with a plurality of printing apparatus each having a paper feeding slot to which a paper name may be assigned, the program comprising: a judgment step in which, in response to a print request from an application program, a judgment is made as to whether there is an available printing apparatus connected to the predetermined communication medium; a first storage step in which the network information about the available printing apparatus obtained in the judgment step is stored in a memory; a setting step in which the network information stored in the memory is analyzed and the number of printing apparatus with the paper name designation capability to be examined is set; an examination step in which an examination is made on as many printing apparatus as the number set in the setting step as to whether each the printing apparatus has the capability of selecting a paper feeding slot in accordance with a paper name; and a second storage step in which if the examination step concludes that the printing apparatus has the capability of selecting a paper feeding slot in accordance with a paper name, the paper name assigned to each paper feeding slot is acquired and stored in the memory.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing operation controlling method of controlling the operation of transferring printing information by communicating via a predetermined communication medium with a plurality of printing apparatus each having a paper feeding slot to which a paper name may be assigned, the method comprising: a judgment step in which a judgment is made as to whether the data stored in a memory includes a paper name acquired from a printing apparatus having the capability of selecting a paper feeding slot according to a paper name; a generation step in which if the judgment step concludes that the paper name is included in the data stored in the memory, the memory is searched to generate a paper name list to be displayed in the paper name selection box of the printing operation control screen displayed on a display device; and a displaying step in which a current paper name is displayed in the paper name selection box in accordance with the generated paper name list.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage medium on which a program readable by a computer is stored, the computer being responsible for controlling the operation of transferring printing information by communicating via a predetermined communication medium with a plurality of printing apparatus each having a paper feeding slot to which a paper name may be assigned, the program comprising: a judgment step in which a judgment is made as to whether the data stored in a memory includes a paper name acquired from a printing apparatus having the capability of selecting a paper feeding slot according to a paper name; a generation step in which if the judgment step concludes that the paper name is included in the data stored in the memory, the memory is searched to generate a paper name list to be displayed in the paper name selection box of the printing operation control screen displayed on a display device; and a displaying step in which a current paper name is displayed in the paper name selection box in accordance with the generated paper name list.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing operation controlling method of controlling the operation of transferring printing information by communicating via a predetermined communication medium with a plurality of printing apparatus each having a paper feeding slot to which a paper name may be assigned, the method comprising: a first judgment step in which a judgment is made as to the selection status of the paper name selection box of the printing operation control screen displayed on a display device; a displaying step in which if the first judgment step concludes that the paper name selection box of the printing operation control screen displayed on the display device is selected, a paper name list is displayed on the printing operation control screen of the display device in accordance with the paper name list stored in a memory; a second judgment step in which a judgment is made as to whether a paper name different from the current paper name is selected from the displayed paper name list; a first setting step in which if the second judgment step concludes that a paper name different from the current paper name is selected from the displayed paper name list, the selected paper name is set as the current paper name; a third judgment step in which a judgment is made as to whether a print start command or a print cancel command is issued; a second setting step in which if the third judgment step concludes that a print start command has been issued, the destination to which printing information is output is set by referring to the paper name information stored in the memory corresponding to the current paper name; and a transmission step in which the printing information is transmitted to the printing apparatus set as the output destination in the second setting step.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage medium on which a program readable by a computer is stored, the computer being responsible for controlling the operation of transferring printing information by communicating via a predetermined communication medium with a plurality of printing apparatus each having a paper feeding slot to which a paper name may be assigned, the program comprising: a first judgment step in which a judgment is made as to the selection status of the paper name selection box of the printing operation control screen displayed on a display device; a displaying step in which if the first judgment step concludes that the paper name selection box of the printing operation control screen displayed on the display device is selected, a paper name list is displayed on the printing operation control screen of the display device in accordance with the paper name list stored in a memory; a second judgment step in which a judgment is made as to whether a paper name different from the current paper name is selected from the displayed paper name list; a first setting step in which if the second judgment step concludes that a paper name different from the current paper name is selected from the displayed paper name list, the selected paper name is set as the current paper name; a third judgment step in which a judgment is made as to whether a print start command or a print cancel command is issued; a second setting step in which if the third judgment step concludes that a print start command has been issued, the destination to which printing information is output is set by referring to the paper name information stored in the memory corresponding to the current paper name; and a transmission step in which the printing information is transmitted to the printing apparatus set as the output destination in the second setting step.